Rent crunch to worsen

YOKO

Sun, November 4, 2007

Rent crunch to worsen
- @+ a" `3 a- `: D5 O# JVacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%
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1 k3 P, |" I% O/ Z( k5 V. G' ABy KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA
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$ r$ ?4 R* F' ~* DThink the rental market is tight now? Just wait until next year.
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" B* y; ^; N( T/ LThat's when the apartment vacancy rate in Edmonton is forecasted to dip below the current 1% - making it that much harder for already frustrated renters to find a place to live.
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9 V( z# H1 W4 J! J: E"It's just getting retarded," said Jasmine, who asked her last name not be printed.

( j3 d$ Y, j% f( F' C; K8 \SIX MONTHS LOOKING

& C, p2 W& K1 d, |$ g8 U3 qJasmine said she's already spent more than six months trying to find a decent place for her and her fiance to rent with no luck.
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For now, the couple has been living with her brother and mother in a three-bedroom government-subsidized housing unit.

4 T! e: D0 I" J" TThey have been scouring the city for anything - but have found nothing in their price range, around $1,100.
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. Z* ^. ?3 `- B1 d" P- Q"I graduated from college, but I'm still working two to three jobs just to supplement the rent payments," she said.
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( a) }( G2 Z( b6 JAccording to new numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the apartment vacancy rate for Edmonton is a minuscule 1%.
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9 m8 D9 r( ~/ x8 qThe rent crunch isn't expected to get any better with the agency pegging the rate next October at just 0.8%.

A limited supply of new rental buildings is keeping the market tight, according to the CMHC's outlook for Edmonton, released this week. Apartments being converted into condos is further keeping a stranglehold on renters.

Rates are staying high with the average rent for two-bedroom apartments at $950 a month, up from $877 a month in October 2006.

3 f/ f+ M6 n; `3 x"With the rental rates being so high, you can only do so much," said Jasmine.
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Making it worse, she has pets, and few places accept animals.

Meanwhile, house sellers are facing a crunch of their own.

8 R* w4 E; j7 kWith a growing inventory, high prices, and wary buyers, houses can be on the market for months. The CMHC predicts listing periods will get even longer in the new year.
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# ^# O8 _* P& F  T- Q- w( E& b3 h"It's been slow," said Alana Schulte, whose Goldbar home has been up for sale since June.
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# U% W% N  r7 p# z  _$ [' e"Shoppers are shopping around a lot more now. They're taking their time. I have had one couple who have come in four times now, but they're not in any rush to make an offer."

. U8 f( {8 I4 }6 K3 s- ~Originally listed at $450,000, in late August, she dropped her price to $400,000 to entice buyers. So far, there have been only lookers.
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& y% {, [( P! S: p! T7 d: ]Schulte bought the house for $165,000 less than five years ago.
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7 v; ^# l+ M. N2 N4 ~Home prices skyrocketed because of investors buying up properties, said realtor Abe Hering.
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INVESTORS A HUGE FACTOR
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"The investors were causing the market to spiral."

Those investors have left the market, leaving mostly people looking for a home to live in.
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6 v0 O  C5 R7 n0 g4 X& cHering said there's just not enough of them to cause a real frenzy and they're often nervous about the high prices.
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The Edmonton Real Estate Board recently reported the average single-family home in Edmonton sold for $399,555 in September, down 1% from the previous month.

水管工

现在是大家的日子都不好过:
有房的, 房子在贬值.
没房的, 房租在上涨.

YOKO

I wondered that how much the rental would be going up for just two bedroom apartment next year???

人生几何

原帖由 水管工 于 2007-11-5 09:42 发表
现在是大家的日子都不好过:
有房的, 房子在贬值.
没房的, 房租在上涨.

8 [3 j& W+ @9 t: w: r' ~8 `4 D
4 Z! Z* F% r. f  |7 C待不住了，还有一个字“走”。

YOKO

Don't be sad!